Construction for body-supports.



APPLICATION FILED DEC. 3, l9l3- Patented July 4, 1916.

l/Vl/ENTOR [sob/aim Drenshfein 1 0 ATTORNEY nrHnAIM nnmvsnrnmr, or New YORK, N. Y.

CONSTRUCTION FOR BODY-SUPPORTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4, 1916.

Application filed December 3, 1913. Serial N 0. 804,335.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EPHRAIM DREN- SI-ITEIN, of the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Constructions for Body-Supports, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to constructions for body supports and especially that class of such constructions which involves the use of a series of narrow strips of uniform width in the formation of the support.

The object of this invention is to provide an elastic or inelastic construction which may be shaped to fit that part of the body which is to be supported, which will retain its shape and which will bestrong and durable. I attain this object by the. construction shown in its preferred form in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a front View and partial section of my construction as it appears applied in a corset, and Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the ends of some of the strips shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a front view showing how narrow strips of uniform width may be fastened together to form a warped surface, and Fig. 5 is a top view of the same, showing the upper ends of the strips sectioned for clearness. Fig. 6 is a front view of one of the strips used in my construction and Fig. 7 is a side View of the same. Fig. 8 is a front view of said strip after it has been warped, contorted or shaped to assume the desired curvature, and Fig. 9 is a side view of the same.

Narrow strips as 6 of uniform width which are made preferably of elastic webbing with the elastic fibers 7 inserted transversely of the strip as shown in Fig. 6, are used throughout my construction. While these strips are preferably of elastic webbing, they may be made of inelastic material as well since the same principle of con struction can be applied to both kinds of material.

My construction is based on the fact that when the ends of a narrow strip of material as 6, are bent toward each other while the said ends are kept in the plane of the original face of said strip, the remainder of said strip 6 will become warped, contorted or shaped in relation to a plane other than that above mentioned and the said strip 6 will assume a shape similar to that shown in Figs. 8 and9 in said strip 6. That is, the strip will be warped or contorted both longitudinally or in the direction of-its length and laterally or in the direction of its width. 59 The nearer the ends of said strip 6 are brought together, that is, the greater the longitudinal contortion, the greater will be the lateral contortion as a result. It can readily be seen therefore that the lateral s5 contortion can be varied at will. Figs. 4 and 5 show a number of said strips 6 warped or contorted and fastened together by longitudinal threaded seams as 8, to retain said contortion and to form a warped solid surface wide at its upper and lower ends and narrow in the middle. Only one of the threaded seams 8 is shown in Fig. 4 the othen strips 6 being similarly connected and the stitching or seams being omitted from the drawing merely to avoid confusion and for the sake of clearness. To make the greatest number of thicknesses of material come near the middle of the member as shown in Fig. 5, it becomes necessary to so vary the amount of overlap along the edge of each strip 6 as indicated in Fig. 4.

I utilize the above described tendency of material to warp or bulge laterally when curved longitudinally in the construction 55 of body supports such as the corset shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Any or all of the strips used in the construction of the corset as strips 1,

2, 3, 4;, 5, and the remaining strips as 6 may be of elastic 0r inelastic material or the elastic and inelastic strips may be placed alternately or in any other desired sequence without departing from the scope of my invention. All of the said strips are positioned substantially vertically in the'corset though this may be varied to some extent as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The said strips are warped sufliciently to give the amount of lateral contortion necessary to fit the body of the wearer, are then variably or irregularly overlapped longitudinally to form a solid member having a'plurality of thicknesses where desired as above described and are fastened together preferably in the direction of thelength of the strips. In the form of corset shown, it is necessary that the abdomen be properly supported and the abdominal supporting portion is therefore made of several thicknesses of material as shown by the overlapping of strips 1, 2, 3, 11- and 5, Fig. 3. A similar plurality of thicknesses of material may be obtained at any point by a similar overlapping. The amount of overlap is seldom uniform and it is seldom uniformly variable and depends on the curvature of the surface and the-number of thicknesses of material desired at the various places. The advantage over a corset made up of pieces cut to the required shape and then sewn together is greater ease of fitting, greater strength, greater supporting properties without painful pressure and concentration and increase of strength at desired points.

For a hip reducer, that portion of the construction shown in Fig. 1 below the linev are used,a warped surface of any shape may.

i 1. In a body support, a series of substantially upright strips of uniform Width curved laterally and longitudinally to. form a solid warped flexible and elastic surface,

elastic fibers inserted transversely in some of saidstrips, a multiplicity of thicknesses of material concentrated at an oint of said support by the proper curving and overlapping of said strips, and stitching for securing said strips together for permanently retaining said support substantially in the shape of the body when disengaged therefrom. 1

2. In a body support, a solid permanently warped flexible surface comprising a series of substantially upright continuous strips of uniform width curved laterally and longitudinally, a multiplicity of thicknesses of material concentrated at any desired point of said support by the proper curving and overlapping of the portions of said strips, the supporting properties of any part of said surface and the permanent retention of the shape thereof being primarily dependent on the number of strips concentrated at said part of said surface, and means for longitudinally securing said strips together for permanently retaining substantially the shape of the body when disengaged therefrom.

Signed at New York, in the State of New York, this first day of December, 1913, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' EPHRAIM DRENSHTEIN.

Witnesses:

MORRIS JAooBs, HENRY DRENSHTEI'N.

Copier of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0; 

